The wonders of beach balls

Since the weather has been so warm out, we've been able to play outside almost everyday and even go to the park. However today was a different story and it was dreary and cold (thank goodness that isn't common here!). So we were all pretty grumpy to say the least. We were playing in our basement area and the boys were fighting over toys and all I was doing was being a referee. Then I remembered some beach balls that we had gotten on clearance at the end of the summer for .25 each. What a steal. So I blew up two of them (we still have two left.....) and what a change in attitudes. We were kicking them, throwing them, playing soccer and making goals in my laundry basket. Next thing I knew it was lunchtime and we had been doing this for almost 2 hours straight. Ahhhh....thank goodness for the little things in life. Here are a few pictures of our morning.



Nathan just being cute. He loves balls!!!!!!!!!!!
Nathan being "all boy" and playing with the trucks now.


Unfortunately I missed when they both had their heads sticking out the holes at the same time smiling. I couldn't get them to do it again, so this was as good as it got.

Nathan with his beach ball.

Here they were kicking and throwing the beach balls at my laundry basket. Oh what fun!

Yeah, Hawkeyes!

Well, we're very sad around our house as college football is over.....boo, hoo! We had a wonderful year as Hawkeye fans and never missed a game (thank goodness for DVRs!). Silas started to really get into the games this year as he would run around our living room pretending like he was playing. Both boys have learned the I-O-WA cheer, so it was fun to watch them do that.

Anyways, here was Daddy and the boys the night of the Iowa bowl game. Daddy got a new Kinnick t shirt for Christmas along with a Kinnick hat that Nathan is wearing in the picture. Thank you, Carla for all of your hard work in getting the hat.....he loves it!

So, hopefully Iowa will have another good football year next year!



Nathan hiding under Daddy's Kinnick hat!

Nathan's 15 month update

Ok, so a little late, but thought I'd update everyone on what Nathan is up to.

He had his 15 month appt at the end of December and he's looking good. He has not gained as much weight as he normally does, so he's now 22 lbs and 13 oz which is 26 percentile. The doctor suggested we go back to whole milk because we had him on 2% with Silas out of convenience. I'm not real concerned about him losing some weight, because I think part of the reason is him chasing after his brother. Since he took to walking at about 13 months, he has been nonstop since! Anyways, he's still a good height at 31 inches which is 64 percentile. He's looking good and has been very healthy. He did have another ear infection, so his 2nd, but it wasn't bad at all. He wasn't even really fussy or sick during that time and he was also getting his back molars so there was a lot going on. Overall, he's still such an easy infant/toddler and I really can't complain....he's spoiled us I think.

He is now starting to communicate which is really cute. I think similar to Silas his first word was Dadda. He also says, doggy, bus, puh (please), ta ta (thank you), bubba (brother) and I think that is about it. A few times he has said mama, but I'm not convinced of it yet since he doesn't say it consistently.

He's a very active little boy and has really gotten into cars, anything moving, trains, music, food, his toothbrush and still loves his sleep (thank goodness for that!). He squeals in delight when Daddy comes home from work and is starting on the daddy phase already. Perfect timing though! Silas and Nathan are starting to play really well together and it is so fun to watch. Silas now asks Nathan if he'll play with him. It is usually cars or chasing one another and although I don't think Nathan fully understands, he does it! Ahhhh.....this truly helps mommy when I need a break, so thankful for that. He is such a blessing and we love our two boys and can't wait to see what holds with the next one!

Christmas and more

This is called catching up time. My computer had to visit the virus doctor for almost two weeks. It was hard not having a computer, but actually probably good, because I realized how much I don't need it and the time that I was wasting on it. So although I'm thankful to get it back, I feel much better about setting boundaries around it. So while the boys nap....I'm going to try and get some pictures posted and recap some missed time.

We had a WONDERFUL Christmas season. I can't say enough about it. It was so nice to not be traveling and be one of the thousands stranded in airports this holiday season. We enjoyed waking up in our own beds (although earlier than we would have liked!) and just enjoying time as a family. This year Silas started to understand more so it was so cute to see him excited and opening presents. We really tried to keep Jesus at the center of our celebration and so everyday for like two weeks you could hear Silas singing Happy Birthday to Jesus. Now, he continues to ask when do we get to celebrate Jesus's birthday again? How fun!

Other than that, Kurt had two weeks off so we had such a nice time interacting as a family. It really hit us hard Monday when Daddy went back to work, but we're getting back into some sort of routine! So here are a few pictures I'll try to post and maybe catch up more as time goes on.

Some of the best times leading up to Christmas was all of the boxes that we got. The boys loved playing in them!

Christmas eve before our church service, we got some neat pictures in front of the tree.








Christmas morning. Silas exploring all of the gifts.





Our new race track....ahhh...boys and their toys.

Nathan loves his new ride on toy!

Decorating Jesus's birthday cake.

Pittsburgh trip

We are officially back from our trip and not just physically, but I think mentally now! We had a wonderful time visiting my sister and family in Pittsburgh. It's such a joy to see them in their own environment and getting to know where they live, go to church, see them homeschool and interact as a family. What a blessing! Thankfully they were all very patient with having an additional two children who were very off their routine and a frazzled mother at times. Kurt had a very busy weekend working at a fencing competition, so it was nice to be able to spend a few days with both families together.


Here are a few pictures I was able to get when I actually thought about my camera!


We ventured out to the local mall one day and here are the kids enjoying the fountains.


We spent one day at the Science center in Pittsburgh. Silas and Nathan are enjoying playing in the water....probably too much!
Here was the highlight of the museum. It is the ball area.
At their house, it was such a joy to see the kids play together and interact although there is such an age difference. Here is Evan building a geo track for the younger kids.
Aunt Paula holding Nathan who really wanted to tear apart the track!

Ann-Marie had a fun time drawing pictures with the boys' hands. Silas was very intrigued.

Alec, Silas and Nathan playing together.

Christmas Tree

We put our Christmas tree and lights up on the day of Thanksgiving and then we finished on the day after. It was so much fun to see the boys really getting into it and help daddy put up the tree. We decided to wait to decorate it when they were napping, since at this stage it is just much easier that way. I was a bit concerned as to how Nathan would be with touching the tree and ornaments, however, as of yet, this hasn't been a problem. He's come close a few times and we tell him not to touch it and he backs right up, so I'm hoping it will continue to be that easy!

Here are a few pictures of our decorating and final project.

Here's Nathan helping to bring the different branches to Daddy. He did such a good job listening!






Silas helping too and he was in the Christmas spirit wearing the antlers.

Nathan just woke up from his nap and Daddy was showing him the finished product. All he could do was point.

Update Time

Wow, I'm not sure how a month has almost passed since my last update, but time sure has been passing us by! Since our last post, we've had some sickness pass through our house. Nothing severe, just roseola and a bout of croup (Silas both times) and now Nathan has a cough, so really can't complain, but does keep you on your toes! Kurt has been traveling quite a bit, I think since I wrote last he has been in Turkey and London, so busy, busy!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Kurt had Thursday-Monday off, which was such a blessing! The weather was absolutely beautiful here, so we got all of our Christmas decorations up including outside lights and we were hanging them in short sleeved shirts.......weird! We were able to spend Thanksgiving dinner at some close friends of ours along with many others from our church family. It was such a blessing to spend a holiday with so many believers, the conversations we had, the games that were played and watching the kids of all ages play together.....what a joy! We definitely feel blessed in so many ways.

Now, we are very excited to be able to travel as a family tomorrow to Pittsburgh. Kurt has some work there and so while he works, the kids and I will be at my sisters playing...he, he! Kurt does have a few days off that he'll spend with us, but just thankful that we all get to tag along! Kurt did get tickets to the professional hockey game and he's taking my nephew and brother in law, so they are excited about that. I'm just thrilled to be able to see where my sister lives and spend some time with them while the kids get to know one another better. Silas is so excited because he had so much fun with Alec when we were all home over Christmas last year. It'll be neat to see them all together again.

I do have pictures of us putting up the tree and our lights, but I think I'm going to call it a night after I pack a few more things, so they'll just have to wait.....hopefully not for another month!! I hope to get an update about the trip as soon as we get back!